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I’d just like to say to IKEA – don’t sell out and back down like Heinz and McDonalds. Stand firm for what you believe in.
Remember a sizable number of gay people shop at your stores, (especially in the Warrington branch where I hear there’s an unofficial gay Wednesday shopping club) and are waiting to see whether you can take the heat or if you crumble under Evangelical pressure groups. They don’t need any more victories at our expense.
Don’t let us down.

The next time the Russian bear growls, perhaps the Poles should call on the Pope to send a few divisions rather than look for support from Western European countries whose notion of equality is a bit more advanced. The same goes for the bigots in Ukraine and the Baltic states.

Well, what can you expect from a backward society brainwashed for centuries by the roman cult. As I’ve said many times before, its time to disestablish state religion starting with the UK. Removing cult power from any government support and funding is the first step to disempowering them. They choose to believe therefore it should be treated like any other commodity, as a private entity and subject to taxation like the rest of us. Nobody is born religous after all.

Oh dear here we go again ! Sure the pink pound/euro/dollar will be more powerful than the Polish Catholic zloty if they are resorting to a boycott. I rather like the tone of the IKEA resonse – am sure the will stick to it.

I seem to remember a lot of men were killed saving Poland from a fascist invader. It’s a pity yhey’ve grown their own.

Let us be clear: the EU doesn’t need fascist states. The EU was formed to avoid fascism rising again. It’s a pity the EU, representing govts such as ours, didn’t make that clear to the Poles, along with financial penalties

To all of you saying how backward Poland is and that it should not be part of Europe I have to tell that for instance Poland legalised homosexuality already in 1932 way before the UK did. The same thing regards equal age of consent for straight and gay people, which in the UK as you know was changed just a few years ago.

Anyhow, regarding the article:
Well, the word “Polish catholics” is a bit misleading here, as only a few orthodox catholics made a stink about this issue. Fronda.pl is also a very conservative website, and most of Polish media criticized this campaign, which is very minor and will not make IKEA change anything. This article mentions also Kaczynski, former prime minister and Sowinska part of his cabinet. Indeed it was a big shame that those people were chosen, but may I point out that only after 2 years that government collapsed. And people voted strongly against them, and their anti-gay policies strongly contributed to it.

Anyhow, Poland is not the most tolerant country in the EU but it is not bad either. Warsaw is the organizer of the Europride 2010 which is supported by the Warsaw mayor and government. And only last week on one of the biggest yearly live shows on national tv, a gay couple was chosen to be the “Polish couple of the year”. This was chosen by the public and I don’t think it would be able to happen in a truly homophobic country.

Well, I suggest IKEA to pull out from Poland and invest in more gay friendly nations thus giving the jobs to someone else, who indeed deserve them more than the Poles. I am also glad that IKEA will not follow Heinz and McDonalds path, IKEA is highly Swedish and Swedish do not tolerate discrimination after all.

In regards to Poland in the EU. I shall remind you that Poland joined the EU before the Twins came to power, these two twins have been inciting descrimination agains homosexuals and other minorities. Why is the EU not doing enough to overturn such incitement? The answer is plain and simple, the EU is awaiting the Poland’s Ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, when the Treaty is finally deposited by Poland in Rome, then the EU will start imposing sanctions on Poland. Regrettably, we will have to wait and we can perfectly wait 9 more months.

Bart has a point. In the UK we have the ‘Christian Institute’ and 24% of the population that want to recriminalise gay sex; in Holland there is the Calvinist Bible belt in which 80,000 won’t even get injected against polio…. the list goes on.

Poland is about 30 years behind the UK in terms of gay emancipation but that is only to be expected seeing as it only gained independence less than 20 years ago. The situation for gay people is not great but it is improving. I am not surprised that these catholic facists are protesting – just like Mary Whitehouse and her pals were protesting in the UK 30 years ago. The situation for Polish gays is improving and in time being gay will not be as big an issue there. I consider this catholic facist protest simply part of the growing pains of a newly democratic country. We need to be patient. It is countries like Russia where the police participate in the homophobia that is more worrying.

All these negative comments about Poland! Come on you people, you obviously know nothing about Poland. Poland has to be one of the most accepting countries in Europe of Gays and Lesbians. I’m sure you’d find Catholics in the USA and the UK who’d take the same stance against IKEA.

Well done IKEA! I have no doubt they will stand firm. The Swedes won’t mess about with this sort of thing. ‘IKEA promotes a way of lifestyle’. Yes its called the modern world and might sit uncomfortably with a few old Polish bigots who are used to taking their instructions direct from the Vatican rather than thinking from themselves. I have several Polish friends and they deserve much better. They managed to bravely resist both the fascists and the communists but seem to have fallen under the sway of the religious fanatics. Let’s give them our full support so they can build a truly great Poland.

Enola Gay, while I agree with he sentiment that you cannot tar an entire country with the homophobic label, its still remains that some elected Polish politicians are very much homophobic. In most Western EU countries, the president or equivalent highest political role, would not be so vocally homophobic as in Poland. There is still some way to go for Poland before it can catch up with most of Western Europe.

Having said that, its not like Poland is alone in that neck of the world for having homophobic politicians.

Yeahh… I read the protest and as an absolutely fascist hompophobe will buy none whatsoever from IKEA for the next , say 3-9 years, until the media surpise me with a nice information aboput the bankruptcy of the company… then I will buy …a pencil with the name IKEA on it – just to remember :)

“Man of Honour”, you are taking the piss, aren’t you? That post is a joke, surely?

If not, you hit the nail on the head calling yourself a fascist. One wonders if the pencil you will buy is for scribbling your intelligent messages on doors in public toilets or sticking it up your nose to increase your brain power.

Oh, and buy a dictionary, you have the grammar and spelling of a 4 years old.

Being Polish and born there, I am ashamed of saying this but
Polish people, are one of the Most racist, bigotted and intolerant peoples on this planet. Mind you not all polish people are like this but a lot are, i get into arguments about racism and homophobia with my family all the time.
Stay stron IKEA

Poland does not have a monopoly on people who hold the deeply religious belief that gays are an abomination and unworthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Those literalist Bible believers are all over the planet – proclaiming their beliefs in public and in ballot boxes – like Propsition H8.

We who support LGBT liberation have not yet arrived at an effective ways and means to counter act their proclamations of hate for us. It is a real problem for the LGBT Movement.

I am VERY pleased to see IKEA (with stores all over the USA too) standing firm for freedom. I will defintely go there for my holiday shopping!

I can’t comment on the actual issues in Poland, eg the obviously homophobe twins in power, people saying Poland is quite tolerant, etc,.

But we can remember that while the Polish Pope probably is turning over in his grave due to homophobia in his native country (he also saved many Jews from the nazis), the current pope said “Seig Heil” when he served in the German army at about age 17. A stain for which nothing, including age, should allow him to be the Pope. And of course, he was selected because he headed the Church’s KGB, dedicated to rooting out any liberalization of the church. And of course he was most likely selected to find a way to deflect the truth about how the church creates Pedophiles with their puritanical attitudes on sex, and then hid these people for decades, so they could continue to prey on young children in their charge. A crime for which the church should have been dissolved, and it’s wealth distributed as capital to the poor of the world.

But more and more, people are seeing through the hipocrisy of the church, and ignoring it. And of course, there are the European Union requirements that have help result in almost every western European country recognizing gay unions.

Poland isn’t really the issue. What you need to do is force the Europeans to stop doing business with my country, America, until it also gives gay people full recognition. Maybe then we’d be rid of the religious fundamentalists and their ilk that poison our nation’s soul. And by the way started the war in Iraq based on lies which also let Bin Laden escape, and whose economic – rich get richer, middle class gets destroyed, policies are potentially giving the world the second great republican depression. (I’m talking about MR. Bush. Please help me make “Bush” the new profanity of profanities in the English language.

I’m still trying to get excommunicated from the church of my youth. Maybe a prayer for a new Mount Vesuvius erupting directly under the vatican will get me this badge of honor. Or perhaps God will solve the problem of this power and money mongering church, which has over the ages been the monstrosity of all monstrosities – by making it happen.

And pray for all the good and misled Catholic people, that they will realize what the church is really about, and how it has nothing to do with what Jesus’ life was meant to be as a message to the world.

“Calvinist Bible belt in which 80,000 won’t even get injected against polio…. the list goes on.”

yeh, somewhere her in the Midwest of the US, a couple refused to take their very sick daughter for medical treatment, choosing instead to pray for her. The girl died of diabetic shock. And the couple have been indicted and will stand trial for something akin to negligent manslaughter. Hopefully they will be convicted, and the only shame is that their pastor won’t be tossed behind bars with them, for causing this murder.

…this was the best :)
the current pope saying (or repeating?) “Sieg Heil” :)
mysterious illness feeding on grey cells does its work well :)
Still one another bit: “I’m still trying to get excommunicated from the church of my youth”.
Apparently you do not seem to know that the excommunication you have brought on yourself some time ago :)

I flicked all 364 pages of the online version of the polish Ikea catalogue and found nothing than some biracial children and two women shopping together in the Swedish shop (suspicious!).

Anyways, I feel more encouraged than ever to go to Ikea after sunday service with my husband holding hands and showing people that gays are not just sex-manic party goers that change partners like underwear when sexually bored and show off what leather cloths and toys they use in bed during gay pride, claiming to fight for understanding and acceptance *sigh*.

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